Armed with knife, Olympia woman allegedly refused to let mother leave house, resisted arrest

 An Olympia woman was charged with a felony and two misdemeanors after allegedly blocking her mother’s way out of the house while armed with a knife and later resisting arrest.

The suspect, a 36-year-old who, according to her mother, was taking medication for mental health issues, was charged with unlawful imprisonment, violation of no-contact order and resisting arrest on May 3.

Olympia police arrested the suspect on May 1 after she told a designated crisis responder that she had taken her mother’s phone and keys. The responder told dispatchers that he could hear the mom in the background asking the suspect to stop.

When police contacted the suspect, she told them that they needed to get her address quickly, claiming that mother was a murderer. Responding officers noted that the suspect was holding a knife about six inches long in her left hand when they arrived.

Authorities attempted repeatedly to get the suspect to put down the knife, but to no avail, leading to a standoff that lasted about an hour.

One officer wrote that the suspect “rambled about many different topics while we were speaking with her, she spoke about multiple people being murdered to include her mom and ex-husband. [She] also would change what language she was speaking… Additionally, [the suspect] told [an officer] to kill her many times.”

Over the course of the police’s contact with the suspect, her ex-husband reported that she attempted to Facetime him four times on the morning of the incident despite a no-contact order against her.

Shortly after police learned about the no-contact order, an officer managed to sneak the suspect’s mother out of the house through the back porch.

After spending nearly an hour unsuccessfully attempting to get the suspect the cooperate, police informed her that she was under arrest for violating the no-contact order and warned that physical force may be used if she refused to comply with orders.

The suspect still refused to drop the knife, prompting police to deploy the less-lethal tools PepperBall, a 40-millimeter launcher and a beanbag shotgun. Police hit the suspect’s left hand, which began bleeding, as well as her legs.

Law enforcement moved up the stairs to get closer to the suspect and threatened to use the taser if she refused to cooperate. The suspect still did not drop the knife, police said, at which point a taser was used.

A physical struggle over the knife ensued between the suspect and an officer, according to the police report. The officer ultimately managed to throw the knife down the stairs and the suspect was handcuffed.

The suspect was evaluated by the Olympia Fire Department then taken to the Capital Medical Center for her injuries from the beanbag shotgun and launcher.

Mother’s account

Meanwhile, the suspect’s mother told police that her daughter had been acting strange since the night before the incident. She added that the suspect’s behavior was alarming enough for her to hide all the knives in their house and her daughter’s car keys.

Early morning on May 1, the mother said, she used a knife to prepare breakfast for the suspect, who grabbed it after she finished eating then told her mom to stay at the table.

The suspect then called 911 and accused her mother of being a murderer. The suspect also ordered her mother to look for the car keys and eventually stood in front of the door to hold it shut until police arrived.

The mother told police that her daughter was “not afraid to die.” The suspect also asked her mom to kill her, according to the mother, who refused.

Once the suspect was cleared by the hospital, she was taken to the Thurston County Jail, where she was booked for felony harassment, violation of a no-contact order, and resisting arrest. An officer also asked the prosecutor to charge the suspect with unlawful imprisonment.